Traverse rod



Ap 1967 H. ZNAMIROWSKI TRAVERSE ROD Filed April 16, 1965 United States Patent 3,314,100 TRAVERSE ROD Henry Znarnirowski, Ellicott City, Md., assignor to Eastern Products Corporation, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Apr. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 448,680 1 Claim. (Cl. 16-S7.4)

The present invention relates to the art of supporting draperies, and particularly to an improved drapery traverse rod and carrier therefor.

Known traverse rods and carriers for draperies often are objectionable because the heading of the drapery fails to hang with its center of gravity in the same vertical plane as that containing the center of gravity of the remainder of the drapery. Thus, the heading often cants angularly outwardly from the traverse rod, and this condition is aggravated in proportion to the increased weight of a drapery.

The above condition is usually caused by the pivoting of the carriers for the drapery about the track edge of the traverse rod when the weight of the drapery is applied to the carriers.

'The principal object of this invention is to provide a traverse rod that will minimize the above as well as other difiiculties of known constructions of this sort.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a traverse rod and drapery carrier in which the carrier does not pivot about the track edge when the drapery is attached to it.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a traverse rod and drapery carrier therefor that will be effective with single as well as dual track traverse rods.

In one aspect of the invention, a traverse rod may include a rolled or otherwise formed sheet metal, hollow, rodlike member having front and back walls or faces, as well as top and bottom walls or faces. The back wall may be provided With a longitudinal slot extending throughout the length of the rod. The top wall may be plain or it may include a rolled or otherwise formed groove extending throughout the length of the rod. Bracket means may be provided for supporting the traverse rod at a predetermined distance from a wall. The top wall groove and cooperating center support are described and claimed in my copending patent application S.N. 448,679, filed concurrently herewith.

In a further aspect of the invention, the rod may be a single element extending between end brackets, or it may include an outer and inner telescoping rod member; in the latter case, the back walls of the telescoping rods may be spaced apart transversely.

In a still further aspect of the invention, the transversely spaced apart track means may include points of contact for the track engaging means of the carriers such that the carriers are restrained against pivoting about the track edges.

In still another aspect of the invention, the track engaging means of the drapery carriers may be constructed so that aligned points in the same transverse vertical plane on the track engaging means contact aligned points in the same vertical transverse plane on the upper and lower edges of the traverse rod track means.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a telescoping traverse rod and drapery carriers to which the principles of the invention have been applied;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the outer member of the telescoping rod of FIG. 1, with a carrier on it, the inner member being removed;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the inner member of the rod of FIG. 1, with the outer member removed;

FIG. 4 is a modified form of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a further modification of the invention.

The ornamental design aspects of the rod of FIGS. 1-3 do not form a part of the present invention but are disclosed and claimed in the design patent application of Harry S. Rosenbaum filed concurrently herewith. The illustrated carrier, except for those aspects thereof cooperating with the rod track, does not form a part of the present invention but is described and claimed in the copending patent application of Martin L. Lydard filed concurrently herewith.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the principles of the invention are shown as applied to a drapery traverse rod of telescoping construction including an outer rod member 10 and an inner rod member 11. Referring to FIG.

2, the outer member 10 may include a front wall 12, a bottom Wall 13, a back wall 14 and a top wall 15. The back wall may be provided with a slot 16 extending longitudinally throughout its length. The edges 17 and 18 of slot 16 may be rolled over on themselves in a manner to provide parallel, transversely spaced surfaces 19 and 20 for a purpose to be described.

The top wall may be plain as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,

or it may include a rolled-in, longitudinally extending groove 21 for the reception of a stirrup of a bracket (not shown) for supporting rod members 10, 11 a predetermined distance from a wall.

A drapery carrier 22 for the outside rod member 10 may include a body portion 23 having an upright portion 24 and an arm portion 25. The arm 25 may support at its free end a ring that is integral with a depending semicylindrical portion 26. A drapery hook 27 may include a leg 28 that is threaded through the ring and which leg extends downwardly through portion 26.

The upright portion 24 of carrier 23 may include a track engaging means 29. It may comprise a disk 30 spaced from the upper end 31 of portion 24 by a cylindrical or otherwise cross sectional portion 32. The spacing of disk 30 from end 31 is such that opposed points 33 and 34 on end end 31 and disk 30, respectively, contact parallel, transversely spaced surfaces 19 and 20 on the upper and lower edges of slot 16, respectively. The construction is such that when these points 33, 34 contact surfaces 19, 20, the semicylindrical lower portion 26 is vertical, thereby maintaining hook 27 in a position to keep the center of gravity of the heading of the drapery substantially in the same vertical plane with the center of gravity of the remainder of the, drapery, so that the heading is maintained in vertical alignment with the remainder of the drapery. The actual disposition of the lower portion 26 need not be vertical. The important thing is that the lower portion supports the hook to hold the drapery heading substantially vertical.

Referring to FIG. 3, the inner member 11 of the traverse rod is of similar construction except that it is of a dimension so as to be slidingly received by the outer member 10, and the groove 36 in its top surface accommodates the rolled portion forming groove 21 of member 10.

A drapery carrier 37 is provided for the inner member 11 and it is identical with carrier 22 except that its track engaging means 38 comprises a spool-like member including two spaced parallel disks 39 and 40 that are joined together by a core 41. The spacing of disks 39 and 40 is such that opposed points 42, 43 contact parallel, transversely spaced surfaces 44, 45, respectively, on the upper and lower edges of the track formed by the longitudinal slot in the back wall of member 11.

The spool-like member of the track engaging means 38 is spaced from the upper end 47 of carrier 37 by a 3 portion 48 so that when member 38 rides on the tracks of member 11, its hook supporting portion will be in alignment with the hook supporting portion 26 of carrier 22.

Referring to FIG. 4, the principles of the invention are shown as applied to a single, nontelescoping traverse rod including a plain top surface 49, vertical front wall 50, and inclined back wall 51. The back wall 51 is provided with a slot 52 extending longitudinally therealong. A drapery carrier 53 similar to carrier 23 may include a disk 54 fixed to the top portion 55 thereof by a cylindrical portion 56. The inner wall of disk 54 is curved at 57, and the upper end 55 is curved at 58. This construction provides contact between opposed points on curved surfaces 58 and 57 and the outer and inner surfaces of the edges of slot 52 in inclined wall 51. The arrangement maintains the drapery heading in line with the remainder of the drapery in the same way that the arrangement of FIGS. 2 and 3 functions.

Referring to FIG. 5, still another modification of the invention is disclosed. It includes a single rod 59 having a plain top wall 60, a vertical front wall 61, and transversely spaced parallel portions 62, 63, forming a slot 64 that extends longitudinally of rod 59. A carrier 65 identical with carrier 53 acts on the outer and inner surfaces of the edges of portions 62, 63 in the same manner in which carrier 53 acts on the outer and inner edges of the slot 52 in the rod of FIG. 4.

An important advantage of the construction of the invention is that the moment arm between the upright portion of the carrier and the hook supporting portion is shorter than it would be if the carrier-track contacting surfaces were not offset. This permits use of a carrier which is not as strong as would otherwise be required.

While the invention has been described in specific embodiments thereof and in a specific use, various modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In combination, a carrier for supporting draperies and the like and adapted to be moved along a track in the wall of a traverse rod comprising a supporting arm adapted to hold a drapery hook at its lower end and a track engaging member attached to the supporting arm at the upper end thereof, said track engaging member having two flanges and a track rail riding portion connecting said two flanges and establishing a predetermined distance between said flanges longer than the width of the track rail upon which the riding portion is adapted to ride, the horizontal axis of said riding portion being substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis of the drapery hook; and a traverse rod for supporting said carrier having a back wall with a slot therein extending substantially the length of said rod to form a track for the track riding portion of said carrier, the lower supporting rail of said track formed by the lower edge of said back wall being substantially the same thickness as the upper guiding rail of said track formed by the upper portion of said back wall, said supporting rail being offset toward the front of the rod from said guiding rail by an amount such that the distance between the rear surface of said guiding rail and the front surface of said supporting rail is substantially equal to said predetermined distance between said flanges of said track riding portion of said carrier to maintain the axis of said track riding portion substantially horizontal.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,683,890 7/1954 Rosenbaum 16-87.4 2,930,072 3/1960 Light l687.2 3,199,142 8/1965 Salzmann et al 1687.2

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

J. H MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

